Out the window, you can see past the white sand, gray road, and blue water to the town of Clearwater, Florida. But inside the hallway of the pink Hyatt Regency, where D.C. United is in the midst of their preseason training, everything is pretty quiet.
I’m sitting in the hallway waiting for the training staff to arrive — we’re set to do some interviews — when a door cracks open a little way down the hall and the 6-foot-5 Donovan Pines suddenly appears, cracking a huge smile as soon as he sees me. We did a shoot together just a few days ago and need to catch up on the last 48 to 72 hours.
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— FloFC (@FloFC_) March 8, 2019
Donovan Pines x @MarylandMSoccer@umterps @UofMaryland #FloFC
That’s just the kind of guy Donovan is: one of the nicest I've met in the business.
But he’s also this guy: the kind of guy who can be thrown into his MLS debut as a 21-year-old on the road in a brand-new formation with a roster starting to take a hit from injuries.
In his first start, Pines didn’t just play — he excelled, logging an 89-percent passing percentage, winning four aerial battles, co-leading the team in clearances with eight (alongside vet Steve Birnbaum), blocking two shots, and intercepting two passes.
What did head coach Ben Olsen tell Pines before the game?
“Just [be] a stopper,” Pines recalled. “Play my game, be confident, clean stuff up. Play simple, play good passes out of the back. I felt confident coming off the field at halftime. I felt confident going into the game.”
Just five minutes into the game, Pines showed what he could do. When Colorado advanced the ball up on the right flank and sent a pretty dangerous cross into the penalty area, Pines was there to head it away out of bounds and into safety. The ensuing corner kick was the same story: a dangerous ball launched into oblivion by Pines.
D.C. United’s customary center backs — Birnbaum and Frederic Brillant — are by no means slouches in the air. Birnbaum has already logged a headed goal off a set piece this year, and Brillant gives a physicality that every opponent loathes. But neither of those guys is the aerial force that Pines is, and that’s where he imposed himself against the Rapids. He did so while dealing with a new formation, too.
“I think [the formation] was going to simplify the game for him,” Olsen told reporters this week, speaking specifically about Pines playing in the middle of the three center backs. “His physical qualities and ability to put out fires and cover ground — it's a good spot for how we were playing. We knew it wasn't going to be perfect, because of the lack of time we spent working on [the formation]. We knew there would be some times where he'd have to take a few long steps to put some fires out, and his one-v-one defending, and his length is a real asset.”
There’s still room to grow for Pines, too.
On Colorado’s first goal — which came off a corner kick — the cross sent in by Jack Price arched high in the air, and Pines was caught in limbo: whether to attack the ball or not; it may have just been out of his reach, but he hesitated and missed any opportunity there might have been to hunt down the ball.
On the second goal, Kei Kamara — standing at a respectable 6-foot-3 — found himself completely unmarked in the center of the box, not so much Pines’ fault as an individual and more a miss by the entire back line.
As Olsen said, this formation was new, and the team wasn’t afforded the requisite time to sharpen the three-CB look. Whether or not DCU look to that formation in the future remains to be seen, but at the end of the day they earned three valuable points on the road, nervy ending notwithstanding.
For his part, Pines enjoyed the debut and credited minutes with Loudoun United for helping to prepare him.
“It was surreal,” Pines said of the game. “I couldn't believe that I was going to start and play at this level. I prayed every day I would get this chance, and I worked hard getting to this part of my life. I'm going to keep working hard, keep improving and learning, and hopefully do well if I get other chances.
“It was big for me to get minutes when I got out of college, to keep learning. I was blessed to come out of college and there was Loudoun United — a USL team — in my backyard. I'll play for them for a couple of games, getting my feet under myself, learn at that level, and bring composure and confidence to that team. I'm happy I started there and then made my debut with D.C.”
If Pines keeps growing and keeps offering the value he showed in his first game, his presence is going to be a significant boon for D.C. United in their bid for the MLS Cup.